Hundreds of people marched through Ghana's capital Accra on Friday in a peaceful protest against unlicensed gold mining, calling on authorities to act against the dangerous and environmentally damaging practice.

Ghana has a gold problem: illegal mines, known as 'galamsey', where men work without proper protective equipment. It threatens their lives – and the environment.

At the expense of workers’ health, increased crime and adverse environmental effects, the heightened price of gold stimulates Ghanaian black market mining industry

At an unlicensed gold mine in Ghana, men in t-shirts, shorts and rubber boots wade through pools of muddy water laced with mercury, pull out rocks with bare hands and operate a rickety sluice as they search for the precious ore.